Letter to Teng Daiyuan
(March 22, 1958)
Comrade Teng Daiyuan:
Document No. I-10 of the Ministry of Railways still requires some additions to make it fully persuasive. For example: the specific reasons why each railway line must be built, its economic value, and in certain cases, its defense or political significance; how much money will be needed for the entire 80,000-kilometer network, whether such funding is feasible, and how much should be allocated during each Five-Year Plan period, again assessing feasibility; as well as measures to combat dogmatism within the railway system. These points should all be included together.
Teng Daiyuan,
who at that time served as Minister of Railways.
[2]
Refers to documents submitted by the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Railways to the Chengdu Conference, including the “Explanation on the Fifteen-Year (1958–1972) New-Line Development Plan for Railways Nationwide,” issued by the Party Leadership Group on March 14, 1958, and Teng Daiyuan’s report dated March 20, 1958, addressed to Mao Zedong and the Central Committee, entitled “Building a Comprehensive, Interconnected National Railway Network to Promote the All-Round Development of Socialist Construction.” The report noted that during the previous 73 years under the old regime, only 25,000 kilometers of railway had been constructed, a figure both small in quantity and highly unevenly distributed. Following the founding of the People’s Republic, in order to rapidly transform the backward state of the railway infrastructure, while restoring existing lines, work began in 1950 on new construction. By the end of 1957, the total length of operational railways nationwide had increased to nearly 30,000 kilometers. However, given China’s vast territory, abundant resources, and large population, 30,000 kilometers remained far too little. In accordance with the central policy of prioritizing heavy industry while simultaneously developing both industry and agriculture, and balancing coastal and inland regions, and in response to the current nationwide Great Leap Forward in industrial and agricultural production and construction, the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Railways had repeatedly studied plans for new railway construction. It proposed building 20,000 kilometers of new lines during the Second Five-Year Plan, followed by 30,000 kilometers each during the Third and Fourth Five-Year Plans, for a total of 80,000 kilometers over fifteen years. By 1972, the nation’s total railway length would reach 110,000 kilometers, placing China third in the world—surpassed only by the United States and the Soviet Union—and elevating its ranking from eleventh to third globally. These documents were circulated as official materials at the Chengdu Conference.

Letter to Teng Daiyuan